Toms learning on the job as Warner Robins mayor | News

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Former Warner Robins firefighter and ordained Baptist minister, Randy Toms took on the new title of mayor in January.

Tuesday, he explained on a taping of "Close Up" why he describes his first six months as "really good."

From the moment he took the oath, Randy Toms says the job fit him.

He said, "I like to be in the middle of things. I like to be doing things."

Toms said it's in his nature to say "yes," but he's learning sometimes, he has to say "no."

He said, "I still have a wife, still have two children, three, soon-to-be four, grandchildren, and I need to spend time with them."

Sometimes the "nos" come in answer to event invitations; Sometimes to requests to preach at funerals and weddings, which he still does.

Toms said he's blending his Christian beliefs with city leadership.

He said, "What's needed in government, in leadership is for people to take the convictions they have and stand on them, and be willing to, for me, the Christian principals I stand on."

He says those beliefs don't exclude others from having different ones inside City Hall.

Tom said, "Not everybody in our city is Christian. I don't want anybody that's not Christian to be ostracized. I think they're an important part of our community."

That approach of including everyone is the same one Toms has taken with City Council.

Chuck Shaheen left the mayor's post for a seat on Toms' council. Toms said, "At first it was a little, not tense, but unsure how we would progress. But then even as recently as last night, we had a good conversation. We were able to work on some issues together. So, I think it's been a really good transition."

He believes city employees would agree that the government's operating well.

Toms included a 3-percent raise for all roughly 550 employees in the budget for next fiscal year. He says it's balanced and does not include a tax increase.

He says it does include a water and sewer rate increase, which will total about $4 per month for homeowners and $5 a month for businesses.

You can watch "Close Up" with Randy Toms in its entirety Saturday at noon or Sunday at 6 a.m. on 13WMAZ.